Russell Brand: Vote for Miliband and Labour

Speaking on his YouTube show, the Trews, the comedian turned political commentator-activist said that people should back Labour in parts of the UK.

In his video, “Emergency: VOTE To Start Revolution Russell Brand The Trews (E312)”, which can be accessed here, the comedian revealed unseen footage from his interview with the Labour leader last week before going on to say that in some parts of the country people should vote Labour.

Following the unseen footage from the interview with Miliband, Brand said;

“If you’re Scottish you don’t need an English person telling you what to do, you know what you’re gonna be doing. If you’re in Brighton I think it would be a travesty if we lost the voice of Caroline Lucas in Westminster, but anywhere else, you’ve gotta vote Labour. You’ve gotta get the Conservative party out of government in this country so that we can begin community-led activism so that we can be heard continually.”

He then went on to say: “There’s loads of things that I could complain about of Ed Miliband,” before listing a few such as Trident.

He then said:

“This bloke [Ed Miliband] will be in parliament, and I think this bloke will listen to us. On May the 7th vote Labour, on May the 8th more democracy, more democracy.”

Russel Brand’s endorsement of Ed Miliband and the Labour party is not 100%, as he did say he has things to complain about the Labour leader, but it’s a big change from the stance he once had that people should not vote.

Regarding Brand’s endorsement the Labour leader tweeted:

“I'm glad I persuaded @rustyrockets(*) that voting is important…and he’s telling people to vote Labour."

*Note: Russell Brand’s Twitter handle is @rustyrockets.

Brand’s endorsement might make a few people who watch him change their minds and instead of ignoring the political process they might vote Labour, but it’s unlikely to make a big difference. Furthermore, from many of the comments below Brand’s video it is clear that many people are criticising Brand on changing his mind about voting, something which could damage him, rather than Labour.

Richard Wood

Richard Wood is a Masters student in Political Research at the University of Aberdeen and is Head of Media for campaign-group TalkPolitics. Other than politics, he is passionate about travel, running, and writing, as well as all things space-related.